1. Jimi Hendrix

It’s been almost forty-two years since the musical sorcerer that was Jimi Hendrix sadly departed from the world, but his legend remains strong in the hearts and minds of many. Born Johnny Allen Hendrix on November 27, 1942, in the humble surroundings of Seattle, Hendrix started to practice guitar at the age of twelve and never looked back from that moment onwards. After spending the first half of the sixties as a session musician, including a stint in Little Richard’s band, the aspiring guitarist made his way to the UK in the hope of establishing himself as an individual after years of playing in the shadows.

By the turn of 1967, Hendrix’s reputation was spreading like wildfire in the London music scene, propelling him to stardom in Europe. Following that, Hendrix’s iconic performance at the Monterrey International Pop Festival in 1967 put him firmly on the radar in America, cementing his place in rock history. Hendrix truly broke the mould with his musical style and flair, combining an old-school love of the blues with a psychedelic, hypnotic verve that gave his music an ethereal quality. Pete Townsend once described him as ‘bigger than LSD’ with an ‘alchemist’s ability’ once he took the stage, and there are little people who would disagree with that sentiment.